8 Leftover Rice Recipes: What to Make With Extra Cooked Rice

Leftover rice is previously cooked rice. You might have surplus rice following a homemade meal or from takeout from an Asian, Mexican, Thai, or Indian cuisine restaurant. Leftover rice can be white rice, brown rice, wild rice, basmati rice, or any other type of rice of which you have extra.

Store leftover rice in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. The rice will get harder and somewhat dried out, but it will rehydrate when you use it in leftover rice recipes. Some rice recipes, such as rice pudding and risotto, require cooking rice in a liquid and then serving it on the spot, but there are leftover rice recipes (such as arancini) that work for these types of leftovers, too. Knowing how to store rice properly ensures any leftovers will remain usable.

Use leftover rice from last night’s roasted chicken dinner in more than just a rice salad, rice soup, or rice casserole. Here are eight different recipes using leftover rice.

1. 1. Arancini: With leftover Italian risotto, make rice balls known as arancini. Stuff them with a cube of mozzarella cheese or a meat sauce. Then roll them into a ball, coat them in breadcrumbs, and deep-fry them until they are crispy. Alternatively, make them into patties for leftover rice cakes. Try making this arancini recipe at home.
2. 2. Bibimbap: Use leftover rice to make a Korean rice bowl called bibimbap. Top the rice with veggies, ground beef, kimchi, and a fried egg. White rice is common, but almost any leftover rice works. Serve this as a weeknight main dish with soy sauce, cilantro, and other condiments and garnishes. Learn how to make bibimbap by following this recipe.
   
3. 3. Burritos: Making burritos usually involves fresh rice, but you can easily use leftover rice, too. When you pair it with juicy meat, black beans, guacamole, and other ingredients in a burrito, the rice absorbs the excess liquids inside the tortilla. Learn how to make an easy homemade burrito.
   
4. 4. Chicken stir-fry: Turn last night’s rice side dish into an accompaniment for a chicken stir-fry with green onions, bell peppers, and a flavorful stir-fry sauce. Leftover white rice or brown rice works well with a stir-fry. Here’s a simple chicken stir-fry recipe you can follow.
5. 5. Fried rice: Use leftover rice to make fried rice. Add chicken for chicken fried rice, a scrambled egg for egg fried rice, or kimchi for kimchi fried rice. Sauté the rice in olive oil or sesame oil over the stovetop, then add flavorings and whatever other ingredients you wish. Learn how to make fried rice.
6. 6. Oyakodon: This egg, chicken, and rice dish is a type of donburi, or Japanese rice bowl. The chicken cooks in a dashi broth, and the eggs cook on top of that, similar to an omelet. Serve the mixture over leftover rice and garnish the dish with chopped green onions. Try this oyakodon recipe that takes less than half an hour.
7. 7. Ohagi: A type of wagashi (Japanese sweet), ohagi consists of mochi and a filling or coating of anko (sweet red bean paste). Chefs shape the pounded rice into a ball and then cover it with red bean paste. Learn how to make traditional ohagi.
8. 8. Turkey-stuffed peppers: Mix leftover rice, cooked ground turkey, tomato sauce, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, and other seasonings. Then stuff the mixture inside a hollowed-out bell pepper and bake the dish in the oven. Try following this turkey-stuffed peppers recipe.

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